Fuel of liquid type



, BURNELL R. TUNISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN'OR TO '0'. S. INDUSTRIAL ALCO HDL" "UNITED STATES PATENT- ornce. v

(10., A. CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

rum. or LIQUID mn Ho Drawing.

. specification.

My invention relates particularly to fuels designed to be used in any desired manner.

. It has application especially to fuels adapted 'tively hot.

to be use alternatively for a wide variety of purposes, as for example, for burners under steam boilers, as well as for explosion in internal combustion engines of various kinds, Diesel engines, or the like. l

. An object of my invention is to provide an eficient fuel for various uses, which fuel,

although containing a comparatively heavy hydrocarbon, shall nevertheless contain such additional substance or substances as to enable the fuel to be used, alternatively oroptionally, in the same manner as the familiar light hydrocarbon fuels heretofore employed in internal combustion engines, or the like, said additional substances not being mere parafin hydrocarbons.

Another object of my invention is to pro-- vide a fuel or type of fuel, containing a relaadditional ighter combustible ingredient of such a character that it will blend effectually notably modify the properties thereof.

"In one of its broader aspects, my present invention ma besaid to aim at a wider availability, 1n the production of motive 1 power, on the part of relatively heavy hydrocarbons, such as heav distillates whichmay be derived from crude oil and which may have a Baum gravity of less than 40, such wider availability resulting from theemployment therewlth of an ingredientor in-' gredients which shall contribute so notably to readiness of ignition that satisfactory ignition vmay be obtained Without raising the Baum density of the product even to the level of ordinary kerosene, and contribute toproducing an-improv'ed combustion, and in one of its'more restricted as pects my present invention may be said to aim at the production, ,from hydrocarbons that have already been deprived of their gasoline and kerosene fractions, of .a p rgd- Specification of Letters IPatent.

hydrocarbon, together with an,

Patented Jul 18, 1922.

Application filed April 12, 1920. Serial No. 373,307.

uct, presumably less'costly'than either of the mentioned fractions, which shall at the same time rival gasoline in its suitability for use in, for example, automobile engines.

In one aspect, the present invention may be said to proceed from a recognition of progress made and to be made in the design of engines and other devices for the utilization of the energy of fuels, and, in so far as it aims at a complemental advance in the perfecting of supposedly inferior fuels for more exacting and important uses than those'to which such fuels have heretofore been put, it may be said to aim at the obviating of a shortage in one of the prime necessities of modern manufacture and commerce, fuels forautomobiles engines and the like.

The fuelsherein referred to being essentially mere mixtures or solutions of-one organic substance within another, it will be apparent that the sequence of operations by which they are produced may be varied, but

the following mayserve as typical examples. I

WhenI begin with any ordinary mineraloil, such as a typical Pennsylvania crude oil,

-I mayfirst distill off for direct use in commerce the usual quantities of lighter products including gasoline. and kerosene, proceeding" with such distillation preferably until substantially all the gasoline and kerosene have been distilled off and until the residuum left in the still shall have a Baum gravit less than 40. I may then associate with t 's residual material, or with a fraction distilled therefrom, and in an convenient manner, as by pouring and agi ating,

or by distilling-directly thereinto, one or -more relatively volatile combustible constituents satisfactorily miscible therewith, such Ethers (e. g. ethyl, methyl or ethyl methyl ether, or mixtures thereof).

Esters (e. g. esters madefrom any. of theabove alcohols and any organic acid, or mixfltures containing such esters).

Ketones (e. guacetone, methyl ethyl ketone, 'oroils orfother mixtures containing such ketoncs).

. The foregoing types of relatively volatile combustible const1tuents may, for convenience begenerically referred to in this case or in relatedoases as organic compounds'oontaining an alkyl radicle and oxygen, the esters and ketones being somewhat more specifically referred to collectively as organic compounds containing a carbonyl group and an alkyl radicle.

The proportions in which the respectively volatile combustible ingredients referred to (or any analogous ingredients that may fall within the claims hereinafter presented) may advantageously be incorporated ,with the heavier hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture will, of course, depend not alone upon the exact character of the heavy hydrocarbon and. upon the selection ,made among the volatile combustible ingredients, but also upon whether it is intended to produce in one product what might be termed a versatile or universal liquid fuel capable of a great variety of uses, or whether the manufacturing intent is rather to produce a fuel possessing, in the highest practicable degree, certain advantages or peculiarities adapting itto same specific use (such as use in vehicle engines, in stationary engines, in injection oil engines, or in oil burners), and an extremely wide range of variations will accordingly be understood to be included within the intended scope of the claims ap pended hereto. The following are offered merely as specific examples of compositions within the scope of my present invention, it being understood that wherever the exp-ression heavy oil" is employed in the said examples, this expression may refer to a petroleum distillate or residue which may consist oi parafin oils and which may be heavier than Be, and which may, for example, be as heavy as 28 Be. By the term petroleum distillates heavier than kerosene, I mean those petroleum distillates which have densities lying above the generally-accepted upper limit of the range of kerosene den- Gnoor ll.

Example 1. 7 Heavy oils 75 parts. Alcohol (of about 95% strength) 15 parts. Ether 5 parts. Ethyl acetate 5 parts.

Example 2. Heavy oil 70 parts Alcohol (of about 95% strength) 20 parts. Ether l parts Ethyl acetate 3 parts. Acetone 3 parts.

sities, which, as already mentioned, lies at about 40 Be, or about .82 absolute density. The parts therein referred to are parts by volume:

lit should be understood that, in any of the examples of the foregoing Group I, the alcohol may, within the scope of the present invention, be supplantedwholly or in part by a corresponding quantity of one or more of mixture.

Y neaaoae the alternative oxygen-containing volatile alkyl compounds mentioned in the same or another example.

Gnonr ll".

Ewampie 3.

Heavy oil 80 parts. Ethyl acetate 20 parts. Example 4.

Heavy oil 83 parts. Acetone 17 parts.

it should be understood that in the preparation ofiuels within Group H, the quantity of acetone recommended is slightly less than the quantity of ethyl acetate recommended. Due allowance being made for this 'diiierence, acetone may be substituted for ethyl acetate in whole or in part, these mentioned volatile constituents being alike in containing the group CO, which, as hereinbefore mentioned, justifies reference to them generically, in the appended claims, as compounds containing carbonyl and alkyl.

As already mentioned, and as will be apparent from the foregoing, while 1 have described in detail numerous specific embodiments of my invention in universal liquid fuels, each of them comprising a preponderating quantity of a heavy hydrocarbon, and each of them suitable for uses as widely sep arated as are, on the one hand, employment (under suitable" conditions of temperature and pressure and in due admixture with air or with oxygen} in explosion motors and, on the other hand, employment in direct generation of heat under steamv boilers, many additional changes may be made without aeparting from the spirit of my invention, as indicated in the foregoing description and in the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene and an ester of an organic acid and a mono-hydric alcohol, the heavy oil being present in the proportion of about three-quarters of the total 2. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier'than kerosene and an ester of an organic acid and a mono-hydric alcohol, the heavy oil and the ester being present in the proportions of about to parts oil and about 3 to 20 parts ester. a 3. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene and an ester of an organc acid and mono-hydric alcohol, an alcohol, an ether, and a ketone, in the respective proportions of about 70 parts heavy oil, 3 parts ester, 20 parts alcohol, 4 parts ether and about 3 parts ketone.-

a. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of organic acid and a mono-hydric alcoportions of about 70 parts oil, about 3 part ester and about 20 parts alcohol.

5. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and ethyl acetate in proportions ofabout 70 to 80 parts oil and 3 to 20'parts ethyl acetate.

6. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl acetate, and an alcohol, in the proportions of about 70 parts oil, about 20 parts alcohol and about 3 parts acetate.

7. A. liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, ethyl acetate, and an ether, in the proportions of about 70p'arts oil, about 3 parts acetate and about 4: parts ether.

8. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, and an ester of an organic acid and a mono-hydric alcohol.

9. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of i an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol,

distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol,

and ethyl alcohol.

11. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and monohydric alcohol, an

distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol, an alcohol, an ether, and a ketone.

13. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol, and an ether. I

14. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol, and a ketone.

15. A liquid fuel comprising a petroleum distillate heavier than kerosene, an ester of an organic acid and mono-hydric alcohol, an ether, and a ketone.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereuntoset my hand this 16th day of March, 1920.

. BURNELL' R. TUNISQN. 

